Forgotten Ages
by Dissolution
Summary: Some things that should not have been forgotten have been, and there will be consequences. For a Blitz Team with a new look, these shadows may not seem a serious threat, but there is more to them than first appears.
1. Reintroductions

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids. Don't sue me. This disclaimer stands for the whole story.

**Forgotten Ages**

Chapter One: Reintroductions

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"Jamie!" a woman's voice shouted irritably, barely audible over the large explosions in the background. "If you don't get that updated battle strategy out here within two seconds, these Storm Sorters are going to cook us!"

"It's coming, Leena," the black haired Jamie replied, his voice quavering anxiously. "Jeez, after five years of Class S, you'd think we'd get used to all their tricks," he added to the man standing behind him. Dr. Tauros chuckled, his hands relaxed and easy on the models they held.

"No one can learn everything about everyone, Jamie. Just get that strategy out there, Bit and Brad could really use it."

Jamie nodded absently as the plan was sent out to all the warriors.

"Bit, get up on high ground near the trees. Brad, you there?"

"Barely," the man grunted, snarling up at the airborne zoids. "Why the hell didn't we send you out here?"

"Because our strategy was supposed to work," Leena snapped back, the Gunsniper barely avoiding the missiles dropped from a Storm Sorter. "What now, Jamie?"

The pilot of the Raynos sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling of the hovercargo. Once again, it was up to him to help pull off a win.

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"Damn, that was close," Brad sighed, padding down the silent hall as he toweled off his mane of hair. "Three more missiles and we would have been out of commission."

Clicking on the light to the living room, he surveyed it with satisfaction. It was his; Doc was out drooling over parts, Bit was off salvaging parts, Jamie was buying groceries and Leena… probably shopping. The only thing that mattered was that he was _alone_.

With a contented sigh, he dropped down onto the couch and scooped up the remote, sounds blaring out of the black box as his eyes started to glaze within ten seconds.

"But Dan, why?"

"Lisa, it's just… I…"

"Tell her, Dan!" Brad encouraged, leaning forward towards the TV. Next to Naomi, zoids and money, soaps were one of the best things in life. "Tell her!"

The actor opened his mouth to say something to the prettily tearing-up actress, and the doorbell rang. It took the pilot a second to recognize the sound, but when he did, the remote went flying across the room.

"Whoever forgot their key is going to be in very deep trouble," Brad muttered, stomping out of the living room without turning off the TV. "Very, very deep trouble."

The doorbell rang again just as he was five feet away from the door, and the brown haired man yanked it open a second later with a lecture of impatience on the tip of his tongue. It died away as he stared at the person standing on the doorstep, who blinked at him. He knew this person. There were subtle changes, such as the hair had gotten longer and the eyes had darkened to a black, but he could never forget the pale features of Vega Obscura.

"What are you doing here?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Vega gave him a vaguely doubtful look, as if wondering about his sanity, but replied cordially enough, tugging at the new gray and black pilot suit that covered a much taller and broader figure.

"To talk to Dr. Tauros. Is he in?"

"No." The word was said curtly as Brad recovered himself, eyeing the slightly shorter man with something close to distaste. "Why do you want to talk to him?"

"I want to ask him a question. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Later. What about the Backdraft?"

"I assumed as a member of the Blitz team, the Battle Commission would have informed you that that was broken up some time ago." A slight pause. "Besides, I never would have gone back. It was… too demanding." The black eyes blinked again. "Later. Would that mean several hours or several minutes?"

The blue-eyed pilot glared at Vega. Kid wouldn't be put off by ambiguous answers, he could see that. With an annoyed sigh, he stood back.

"Perhaps half an hour. You want to wait?"

Suddenly, the youth smiled, almost the same smile from five years ago.

"That would be nice. Thank you."

He followed Brad down the hall towards the loud living room.

"It's been five years, so you're what, fifteen, sixteen?"

"Sixteen," Vega replied, giving the TV a long, incredulous look that was transferred to Brad, who shrugged, trying to be casual.

"Must have hit the channel changer on the way out," he muttered, hurriedly picking up the remote from the floor and switching the TV off. "What have you been doing in those five years?"

"Convincing the Battle Commission to let me have the Fury back and battling by myself." The younger man seated himself comfortably on the couch in a position of casualness that spoke of long practice of looking at ease. "Not much, considering it's more than a fourth of my life."

Brad barely heard the second sentence, still processing the first.

"They let you have the Berserk Fury back? How did you manage to do that?"

"With a lot of assurances that I was not out to cause mass destruction and havoc." Vega smiled rather bitterly. "If I was a little older, I would have been thrown in jail for piloting the thing. As it was, I was young enough to still look innocent of any wrongs."

Fortunately, Brad was saved from the bewildering task of answering such a statement as the noisy sounds of Doc opening the stubborn door with much muttering came down the hall.

"He's back early," the older man said, concealing relief. "That's unusual."

Glancing back at Vega, he saw that the other pilot had risen and was staring at the hallway with a resolute wariness. There was hardly time to wonder at this new look before Doc bustled in, shaking his head and sighing.

"Ah, Brad, the new things that we should be upgrading with! It's almost certain that the other teams have some of this new equipment… hello, what's this?"

He had finally seen Vega, standing by the couch. Before Brad could answer, the black haired youth moved forward, his hand outstretched.

"Dr. Tauros? You may not remember me. I'm Vega Obscura."

"How could I forget you?" Dr. Tauros replied with a smile, shaking the other man's hand. "You're the pilot of the Berserk Fury."

"That's right. May I speak with you? I'd like to ask you a favor."

"A favor? Well, that sounds interesting," the purple-eyed man said cheerfully, dumping his keys and jacket on the couch. "My study's this way."

Brad was left standing in the room, staring off the way both Vega and Doc went, their voices dropping to indistinguishable mutters as they moved away in the opposite direction of Jamie coming in with Leena.

"Hey, where's Dad?" Leena asked, dropping several shopping bags on top of her dad's things and running a hand through the fiery hair. "I want to show him something I bought."

"Vega Obscura's here," Brad replied without preamble. "He's talking with Doc."

"About what?" Jamie asked sharply over Leena's exclamation.

"He said he wanted to ask a favor."

"Since when do Backdraft people ask favors?" Jamie wondered, tilting his head questioningly at Brad, as if the other man could supply all the answers.

"He said he wasn't part of the Backdraft anymore."

"Ha!" Leena snorted. "And since when do they start telling the truth anyway?"

Brad sighed, flopping down on the couch and managing to avoid the pile of stuff that was already there.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

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"Is the whole team here?"

Startled, Bit managed to roll off the couch and hit the floor with a bang as the others simply looked up at the team's manager standing in the doorway with one hand on Vega's shoulder.

"Yeah, everyone's here," Brad replied promptly, standing to see better as he ruthlessly pushed down a feeling of foreboding. "What's going on, Doc?"

"Well," the tall man started with a slight smile, "This young man came to ask a favor. He asked to join the Blitz Team."

Complete silence as Steve Tauros paused to see the effect his words had on his team. Apparently, the results were satisfying because he went on after a couple seconds.

"I told him that yes, I would like to have him, but my voice wasn't the only voice for the team. I told him you all needed to agree for him to be on the team. Well, Blitz? What do you think?"

Bit's voice cut through the still air first.

"I think it's a great idea," he said enthusiastically, his green eyes crinkling up in a childish smile. "I mean, we get a great pilot, we have more pilots in case we need them, and look at his zoid! I mean, it's the Berserk Fury!"

"We don't need more pilots, Bit," Leena snapped out, crossing her arms. "I still don't like the fact that he might be in Backdraft."

"The Backdraft were disbanded five years ago," Vega said patiently, fixing his black eyes on her own violet ones. "Even if I wanted to be, there's no one around to join, all the leaders are locked up and the rest of them are too chicken to step forward."

"Even Layon?" Leena replied skeptically.

"Layon? Oh, that delusional guy that made the Shadowfox? No, I think he's still around, but he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to battling and such."

"We noticed," Brad muttered, then put in his two cents. "I don't know. It divides up even more of the prize money, you know…"

"Oh, for God's sake, Brad, get over the money," Bit snorted. "You already have enough saved away to build a palace."

"And how would you know that?" Brad asked, arching an eyebrow at the other pilot, who suddenly looked nervous.

"Ah, just a guess, just a guess," he muttered with an anxious laugh. "Just a guess."

"Jamie?" Doc asked, looking at the quietest member of the team. "What do you think?"

"About Brad's money? Well, he has been storing it away for a while–"

"No, Jamie, about Vega joining," Leena barked.

"Oh, that. Well, it's fine with me. You know I never like piloting when I don't have to. And the Fury will certainly throw the rest of Class S in a tizzy. They've never seen the zoid before, but have heard a great deal about it. It's just the edge we need right now."

"Does that mean we might win more than one every five games?" Leena demanded, stomping over to shove her face into Jamie's.

"Well, there's a distinct possibility–"

"I'm for it," Leena said promptly, turning to face her father again resolutely.

"Brad? It's your call," Doc said into the silence as everyone turned to look at Brad.

The longhaired pilot shrugged uneasily and chanced a glance at the person who was the cause of this conversation. He stared right back, eyes mute and unreadable in the still face.

_How the hell did he get black hair and eyes and such pale skin?_ Brad wondered rather tipsily. _It stands to reason that he should have tan skin, at the very least. He looks like a vampire._

"Brad?" Doc prodded gently, bringing Shadowfox's pilot back down to Zi.

Brad sighed, looking down at his hands and not really seeing them as the silence stretched.

"All right," he replied finally, looking back up at the rest of the group. "Let's give it a try."

There was an immediate chatter as Jamie started listing off the things they would have to buy to house a new zoid, Leena started listing off the things that she would buy with more money, Doc started raving about the Fury and Bit babbling away to Vega about Ultimate Xs. But for all the noise, Vega stayed silent, locking gazes with Brad again. The feeling of unease grew as he saw the small smile that crept onto the youth's face, which would have been so very innocuous if not for the jolly, malicious sparkle Vega's eyes. The look lasted for only a moment before he turned to Bit and started laughing with the Liger's pilot, but Brad couldn't shake the feeling of dread as he walked quickly out of the raucous room. _There's definitely more to that boy than meets the eye_, was the dominant thought in the pilot's chaotic mind. _Perhaps this was a very bad idea_.

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**From Dissolution**: Let me know what you think, and if I should continue it. I have several other chapters ready and waiting, but I'd like to know if you guys think I should continue. Any words are welcome.


	2. Trial By Fire

**Forgotten Ages**

Chapter Two: Trial By Fire

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"First battle using the new warrior," Jamie mumbled to himself, sitting at his console in the hovercargo. "Liger, ready?"

"Ready, Jamie."

The transporter shuddered slightly as the Liger was ejected from its hull, the white cat landing some feet away.

"Gunsniper ready?"

"Ready and waiting!" came Leena's impatient voice, unruffled as she was also shot from the hovercargo.

"Shadowfox?"

"Just get going," Brad snapped, his patience worn raw by the wait.

"Fury?"

"Ready," was the cool answer, the Fury landing with a solid thump next to the Gunsniper.

"Remember, keep to the plan," the fiery haired girl told Vega, who nodded over the comlink.

"Hey, Vega, you nervous?" Bit called out over the radio. "First time in class S and all."

"With what you told me, I should be shaking in my boots," the black haired warrior retorted, smiling cheerfully. "Are you trying to make me scared?"

Bit grinned back cheekily, but was cut off by Brad's observation.

"Here's the judge," he called back over his shoulder to the others from where he was prowling around. "Siren Team should be here any minute."

"Hey, didn't your zoid used to have light colored armor?" Leena asked, puzzled as she stared at the now black Fury.

"I changed the armor after Bit knocked off the head coverings," Vega replied with a smile for the redhead.

"Oh." She seemed to want to say more, but turned away, to watch the approach of four Gysacks that scuttled towards them with surprising speed.

The judge raised his arms, looking around at all the zoids.

"Battle field set up. Siren Team vs. the Blitz team. Battle mode 0982. Ready… FIGHT!"

A bell rang somewhere distant, and the Liger Zero sprang forward, closing in on all four Gysacks at once. The Shadowfox closed in on the other side, the Berserk Fury coming from the left.

"Cover us, Leena!" Brad growled, his claws glowing a bright yellow as the Gysack nearest to him spun around, facing the Shadowfox.

"You got it, Brad," Leena crowed, several rocket packs opening up on her Gunsniper. "Just watch me!"

"Strike Laser Claw!"

Bit's shout ripped Jamie's attention away from the trigger happy Leena and back to the Gysacks as Bit leaped into the air, his claws also glowing yellow. The Gysack had no chance.

"Damn it!" Brad cursed as his Gysack scurried backwards, avoiding the Shadowfox's attack at the last second. "Bit! Another coming your way!"

"Huh?" Startled, Bit jammed the controls backwards, backpedaling his zoid to avoid a crash with the Gysack coming his way, claws extended to attack.

"Got you now, boy!" the female pilot crowed, voice thick with triumph.

"That's what you think," Bit muttered, continuing to trot backwards in his zoid to gain distance from the scorpion zoid.

"You think you're so speci–"

The Gysack's pilot never got to finish her sentence as the left most Gysack came flying through the air and crashed into her zoid, sending them tumbling end over end into the sand in a large pile of tails and legs.

"Brad, Leena, someone get the last Gysack," Vega said calmly as the Fury stretched itself out from end to end, jaws opening wide and tail scales unlocking. Small particles of light started to collect around the small tube in its mouth. "I'll finish this."

"Don't hurt them," Doc cautioned, watching intently from his station behind Jamie's.

"Don't worry, Doc. I won't hit the pilots or the zoid cores."

Almost absently, Leena directed her rockets towards the last Gysack, barely hearing the explosions as light, purple and white, streamed from the Berserk Fury's mouth, cutting through the zoids' armor as if it didn't exist. Only smoking bodies of the zoids were left when the beam finally faded away, the tails gone in the blaze of light.

"And that's that," Doc Tauros said smugly, leaning back in his chair. "Leena, you get that last Gysack? Leena?"

"What? Oh, yeah, the last Gysack. I sent missiles at it…"

"Leena, on your right!"

Jamie's shout brought the redhead around, staring at the Gysack that wasn't ten feet from her.

"Oh, get away, get away, get away!" the girl shrieked, desperately trying to turn the ponderous Gunsniper out of danger.

The scorpion hissed its satisfaction, whipping the tail around and sending the sniper zoid flying into the air. As it tumbled to the ground, the Gysack was on it in a flash, claws stabbing as the tail fired away.

"Get it off!" Leena screamed, causing the rest of the team to wince and rub their ears.

"Jeez, you don't have to be so vocal," Brad retorted, a few well placed rounds taking the Gysack out of commission. "You're not hurt."

"Leena, stay there, we'll pick you up," Doc cut in, worry edging his voice. "That Gunsniper doesn't look like it's in very good shape."

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"What do you mean, not available!" Leena howled at the vid phone. "I need a mechanic now! My Gunsniper isn't even able to stand without support!"

The man on the other end of the line cringed away from the speakers. Zoid pilots had such bad tempers.

"The mechanic's busy for about six weeks," he replied cautiously. "If you'd like to book–"

"I can't wait six weeks!"

"Just hang up, Leena," Brad sighed from the other end of the room.

The redhead complied, slamming the phone down and switching off the screen at the same time. She scowled at it for a second, then transferred the dark look to the rest of the team, gathered as they were in the lounge.

"Was that the last mechanic on the public list?" she growled. Her angry tone melted into a wail as Jamie nodded.

"I need my Gunsniper! What are we going to do? I can't wait six weeks!"

"Well, I might have a solution," Doc chuckled, coming into the room with a small smile on his face. "You're in luck, Leena. There's a team nearby, called Team Iris. They just happen to have an expert mechanic as one of their pilots, and she said she would be happy to help out. As it is, it'll cost a little more, but we won't have to move the Gunsniper and she should be coming tomorrow."

"That'll save our ears," Bit muttered, then flinched as Leena glared at him.

"What was that, Bit Cloud?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Jamie shook his head and sighed. All was right again in the Blitz Team base.

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**From Dissolution**: Let me know what you think, kids.


	3. A Bit Battered

**Forgotten Ages**

Chapter Three: A Bit Battered

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Vega, as much as he tried, couldn't walk quietly anywhere in the base. His boots, heavy enough for tramping around rocky terrain, made tiptoeing an impossible task. And although going barefoot was an option, he didn't fancy it as Leena had an unpleasant habit of leaving sharp things on the floor. So, still tugging the dark gray shirt over his head and leaving it loose from the dark pants, he walked as carefully as he could out to the hangar, which was as far away from the bedrooms as possible.

"Not a scratch," he whispered, observing the Berserk Fury with satisfaction. "Only a little dust to show that we've had our first battle as Blitz member."

He smiled a tad bit smugly, turning an eye to the Gunsniper. The thing was a wreck, large scratches decorating the chest and face armor, along with blackened areas were blasts had hit the zoid. Several parts lay on the floor, collected from where they had been dislodged when Leena was thrown.

"You'd think that after something like that happened, she'd be a bit less cocky," he muttered to himself, mouth twisting around as he thought of the irate redhead.

"Hey, you the owner of the Gunsniper?"

Vega did a little funny dance as he tried to climb into the air and whirl at the same time. He managed to steady himself on the Gunsniper's foot, and turned to look at the owner of the voice. There were actually two people that had walked into the open hangar without him noticing, and both were worth a curious stare. The taller was a man, about six-foot, with lazy, bright blue eyes that returned the look out of a tanned face. The ivory scar that cut across the right temple, a millimeter away from his eye, and continued through the upper lip stood out clearly. His tawny hair was cut short enough to almost be called buzz cut, though in some places it stuck up weakly in spikes. The muscled arms were tan and bare, exposed by a blue-black shirt that was tucked into tan cargo pants. Tall boots left sandy footmarks on the floor.

Vega turned his gaze to the other, younger figure, who was immediately identified as some type of family to the man. The tawny hair was the same color, but the tangle of rich brown and red cascaded down to the middle of the girl's back. Her face was tanned and unblemished by scars, but the pert nose and high cheekbones were the same as the other's. The eyes, so blue and hooded in the man's, were, in her face, open and a rich amber color, and fixed on his face. The tight tank top and baggy cargo pants didn't leave much to the imagination, but the most striking difference was the height. Whereas he could be called a tall man, she couldn't have been more than five feet four inches.

"Uh, no," Vega replied, hastily recalling the question he had been asked, therefore scaring him out of his wits. "You're from Team Iris?"

"Yeah. We talked to a Steve Tauros. Is he around?" the man asked, his gaze flickering to the Gunsniper.

"Yes," Vega said, suddenly wary of the man and impatient to get him away from the zoids. "This way."

He led the way, not caring if his clomping boots woke anyone up, but soon had confirmation as a screech let everyone know that Leena was awake, and not happy about it. Vega had waved a hand curtly at some chairs in the lounge, and started towards the rest of the base, when a tousle-haired Doc walked in.

"Ah, Vega. I see you're up. And this is the mechanic?"

The man stepped up with a smile on his face and his hand outstretched.

"Dr. Tauros? I'm Jake Levrelle, and this is my sister Skye Levrelle. We're here to fix your zoid."

"You mean I'm here to fix your zoid," Skye corrected, arching an eyebrow as she also held out a callused hand to the Blitz team manager. "You're just here because you want to be."

"I see," Doc replied, unruffled by the man's sudden appearance. "And how long will you be staying, Jake? There's not much to do around here."

"He'll leave as soon as he sees I've got everything I need," the girl replied, not bothering to glance at her brother. "My stuff's out in the car. Perhaps you could let me see the zoid?"

"Doc? What's going on?"

Brad strolled into the room with a wince against the lights, though he was fully dressed and ready for the day. Doc turned with a smile.

"Brad, these are the people from Team Iris, Jake and Skye Levrelle. She's here to fix the Gunsniper."

Brad turned an incredulous eye on the girl, who stared back with something akin to an insolent disgust on her face.

"And how old are you?" he asked, eyeing her up and down doubtfully.

"Sixteen," she replied with a withering look. "And don't worry, I can fix a zoid properly. I've been fixing things since I could walk." She turned back to Doc, blocking him out completely. "The zoid?"

Vega chuckled quietly in the corner, drawing Jake's lazy eyes and Brad's scowl, but Doc replied as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Of course, right this way. Brad, could you be so good as to get Leena into the hangar as soon as possible? It'll probably help with the repairs."

The longhaired pilot grimaced at the prospect, but left as the other people started towards the hangar.

"The Gunsniper got surprised by a Gysack, who threw it," Doc explained, gesturing as he looked over at Jake. "It started stabbing and blasting away before Brad took it out. But it was a little too late for Leena's zoid."

"Leena's the owner of the 'Sniper?" Skye interrupted as they emerged into the large, concrete room.

"Yes, and my daughter," Doc sighed, shaking his head as he led them over to the blue zoid. "It's in bad shape."

"I'll say," Skye replied as she eyed it critically, then fell silent, looking over the damaged sniper zoid.

"So, what's the verdict?" Jake asked softly after several minutes of quiet. Skye sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, it's going to be quite the job, I can tell you that. I can do the little stuff today, from the position of the scratches it looks like there's some wiring needed in there, and I can come back tomorrow to install the larger parts. That's where you come in," she added to Tauros. "I don't supply the parts, I leave that up the owners of the zoid. If you could go into town and get the things I'll name for you, then I can hopefully have it done by the end of tomorrow."

"Hopefully?" Vega asked cautiously.

The girl shrugged as she looked over at him.

"I'm not really inspecting it right now, there might be some critical things in there that are ripped apart that might take longer than just a couple days. You never know."

"What?" Leena asked sharply as she stomped into the hangar, Brad coming in a few steps after the woman. "How long will it take?"

"Two days, hopefully," Skye replied, studying the other woman as she came closer. "I take it you're Leena Tauros?"

"Yes. And you are…?"

"Skye Levrelle, the mechanic," the shorter girl answered, waving at her fellow team member. "And my brother, Jake Levrelle. You have a beat up zoid there."

"Don't I know it," Leena muttered. "When are you starting?"

"Right now," was the prompt reply. "As soon as I get my tools. And I do have one requirement."

"What's that?" Doc asked as the girl didn't elaborate, but started out towards where a jeep was parked outside the hanger.

"No one bothers me," she called back over her shoulder. "I can't work with people hanging around and telling me how to do my job."

Jake chuckled softly, watching his sister dig through the car.

"She can be a little more blunt than most people would like," he told Doc. "But she's excellent at what she does."

"Good," the purple-eyed man replied, glancing up at the Gunsniper. "Because that's what we need right now."

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**From Dissolution**: As always, let me know.


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